The Files Library will store most of the files used on your site. Your Files Library can contain different media types, including documents, images, videos, or audio files. Select Files in the main menu to enter your Files Library.
Files act like pages on your site; you can update them and publish new versions while retaining the file history. But remember, you must publish a file before you can use it on your pages.
You can directly upload files to the page you're working on. If you do this, they will be stored on the page's Content files rather than in the Files Library, meaning that you can only use these files for that one page. To upload files that can be used anywhere on the site, upload them to the folders in your Files Library.
We recommend uploading all your files in the Group Files and Shared Files folders. When you upload files to the Content files folder, a new version of that file will be created every time the page is updated. This will add to the size of the page, which can slow down the page loading time. Additionally, you can't access these files from the Files Library, so you cannot update them or use the Re-upload option, nor are they searchable in the admin.
About Folders
The Files Library uses folders to organize the files you upload. In the Files Library, select a folder to view its files or upload new ones. You can switch between the Thumbnail view and the List view; in the List view, you can customize the file details displayed by selecting the Customise View button and dragging blocks into the Selected Columns field.
Three top-level folders cannot be changed or renamed:
- Group Files: You can use the files in this folder anywhere on your site. When you access this folder through the Files Library, it will share the name of your site (Public, for example).
- Shared Files: You can use the files in this folder on any of your sites. When you access this folder through your pages, the folder will divide into separate folders for each site. The file path will be Shared files > [your site] > [your folder].
- Archived Files: This folder holds your archived files. You can't add archived files to pages, but they can be restored to the Group files or Shared files folders.
A comprehensive folder structure will help your content authors find the correct file when working in specific site sections. We've seen several structures, and two that work well are:
- Build folders to match the departments of your city or council, such as "Economic Development" or "Human Resources." This structure reduces maintenance and allows staff to go straight to the relevant department's folder when searching for files.
- Structure your folders to match your site tree. This allows content authors to go to the folder that matches the area of your site they're working on but can create confusion if your site tree changes a lot.
How to Add a Folder to Your Files Library
To add a folder to your Files Library:
- Navigate to an existing folder in your library where you want to add the new folder. This may be one of the folders we provide (Group files or Shared files) or another one you have created.
- In the existing folder, select Add Folder.
- A new folder will appear in the library as a child of the original folder. Name it something descriptive, or if you're mirroring your site tree, name it after the section where it's mirroring.
- Once you've added a folder, you can right-click it to rename, delete, cut, or copy it, among other things.
- You can also use the right-click menu to create new folders.
If you use a document management system, you can integrate it as a premium module. The integration will sync your files between the two systems and mirror the folder structure you've set in the DMS in the chosen folder.